Computer Games for Preschoolers:

Nintendo's Research and Design Process

Designing computer games for young children is a daunting task for game
producers, who, for a long time, have concentrated on more "hard core" game fans.
This article chronicles the design process and research involved in creating Nintendo
DS for preschool gamers.

After speaking with our producers who have a keen interest in designing for the
DS, we finally agreed on three key goals for our project. First, to understand the
range of physical and cognitive abilities of preschoolers in the context of
handheld system game play; second, to understand how preschool gainers interact
with the DS, specifically how they control the different forms of play and game
mechanics offered by the games presently on the market for this platform; third, to
understand the expectations of preschoolers' parents concerning the handheld
systems as well as the purchase and play contexts within which game play occurs.
The team of the research decided that in-home ethnographies with preschoolers and
their families would yield comprehensive database with which to give our producers
more information and insights, so we start by conducting 26 in-home
ethnographies in three markets across the United States: an East coast
urban/suburban area, a West coast urban/suburban area, and a Midwest
suburban/rural area.

The subjects in this study included 15 girls and 11 boys ranging from 3 years
and 3 months old to 5 years and 11 months old. Also, because previous research had
shown the effects of older siblings on game play (demonstrated, for example, by more
advanced motor coordination when using a computer mouse), households were
employed to have a combination of preschoolers with and without elder peers.
In order to understand both "experienced" and "new" preschool users of the platform,
we divided the sample so that 13 families owned at least one Nintendo DS and the
others did not. For those households that did not own a DS, one was brought to the
interview for the kid to play. This allowed us to see both the instinctive and intuitive
movements of the new players (and of the more experienced players when playing
new games), as well as the learned movements of the more experienced players.
Each of those interviews took about 60 to 120 minutes and included the pre-schooler,
at least one parent, and often siblings and another caregiver.

Three kinds of information were collected after each interview. From any older
siblings and the parents that were available, we gathered data about: the buying
decisions surrounding game systems in the household. the family's typical game play
patterns, levels of parental moderation with regard to computer gaming, and the most
favorite games played by family members. We could also understand the ideology of
gaming in these homes because of these in-home interviews: what types of spaces
were used for game play, how the systems were installed, where the handheld play
occurred in the house (as well as on-the-go play), and the number and type of games
and game systems owned. The most important is, we gathered the game-playing
information for every single kid.
Before carrying out the interviews, the research team had closely discussed with the
in-house game producers to create a list of game mechanics and problems tied to
preschoolers' motor and cognitive capabilities that were critical for them to
understand prior to writing the games. These ranged from general dexterity issues
related to game controllers to the effectiveness of in-game instructions to specific
mechanics in current games that the producers were interested in implementing for
future pre-school titles. During the interviews, the moderator gave specific guidance
to the preschooler through a series of games, so that he or she could observe the
interaction and probe both the preschooler and his or her parents on feelings,
attitudes, and frustrations that arose in the different circumstances.

If the subject in the experiment had previous exposure to the DS system, he or

she was first asked to play his or her favorite game on that machine. This gave the
researchers information about current level of gaming skill related to the complexity
of the chosen one, allowing them to see the child playing a game with mechanics he
or she was already familiar with. Across the 26 preschoolers, the Nintendo DS
selections scope were very broad, including New Super Mario Bros, Sonic Rush, Nin-
tendogs, and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. The interviewer observed the child play,
noting preferences for game mechanics and motor interactions with the device as well
as the complexity level each eame mechanic was for the tested subject. The
researchers asked all of the preschoolers to play with a specific game in consultation
with our producers, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. The game was
chosen for two major reasons. First, it was one of the few games on the market with
characters that appeal to this young age group. Second, it incorporated a large
variety of mechanics that highlighted the uniqueness of the DS platform, including
using the microphone for blowing or singing.
The findings from this initial experiment were extensive. After reviewing the outcomes
and discussing the implications for the game design with our internal game
production team, we then outlined the designing needs and presented the findings
to a firm specialising in game design. We worked closely with those experts to set the
game design for the two preschool-targeted DS games under development on what
we had gathered.

As the two DS games went into the development process, a formative research
course of action was set up. Whenever we developed new game mechanics, we
brought preschoolers into our in-house utility lab to test the mechanics and to
evaluate both their simplicity, and whether they were engaging. We tested either
alpha or beta versions of different elements of the game, in addition to looking at
overarching game structure. Once a full version of the DS game was ready, we
went back into the field test with a dozen preschoolers and their parents to make sure
that each of the game elements worked for the children, and that the overall objective
of the game was understandable and the process was enjoyable for players. We also
collected parents' feedback on whether they thought the game is appropriate,
engaging, and worth the purchase.

The History of Pencil

The beginning of the story of pencils started with a lightning. Graphite,

the main material for producing pencil, was discovered in 1564 in Borrowdale in
England when a lightning struck a local tree during a thunder. Local people found out
that the black substance spotted at the root of the unlucky tree was different from
burning ash of wood. It was soft, thus left marks everywhere. Chemistry was barely
out of its infancy at the time, so people mistook it for lead, equally black but much
heavier. It was soon put to use by locals in marking their sheep for ownership and
calculation.
Britain turns out to be the major country where mines of graphite can be detected
and developed. Even so, the first pencil was invented elsewhere. As graphite is soft, it
requires some form of encasement. In Italy, graphite sticks were initially wrapped in
string or sheepskin for stability, becoming perhaps the very first pencil in the
world. Then around 1560, an Italian couple made what are likely the first blueprints
for the modern, wood-encased carpentry pencil. Their version was a flat, oval, more
compact type of pencil. Their concept involved the hollowing out of a stick of juniper
wood. Shortly thereafter in 1662, a superior technique was discovered by German
people: two wooden halves were carved, a graphite stick inserted, and the halves
then glued together — essentially the same method in use to this day. The news of
the usefulness of these early pencils spread far and wide, attracting the attention of
artists all over the known world.

In England, pencils continue to be made from whole sawn graphite. But

with the mass production of pencils, they are getting drastically more popular in many
countries with each passing decade. As demands rise, appetite for graphite soars.
According to the United logical Survey (USGS), world production of natural graphite in
2012 was 1,100,000 tonnes of which the following major exporters are: China, India,
Brazil, North Korea and Canada. However, much in contrast with its intellectual
application in producing pencils, graphite was also widely used in the military. During
the reign of Elizabeth I, Borrowdale graphite was used as a refractory material to line
moulds for cannonballs, resulting in rounder, smoother balls that could be fired
farther, contributing to the strength of the English navy. This particular deposit of
graphite was extremely pure and soft, and could easily be broken into sticks. Because
of its military importance, this unique mine and its production were strictly controlled
by the Crown

That the United States did not use pencils in the outer space till they
spent $1000 to make pencil to use in zero gravity conditions is in fact a fiction. It is
widely known that astronauts in Russia used grease pencils, which don't have
breakage problems. But it is also a fact that their counterparts in the United States
used pencils in the outer space before real zero gravity pencil was invented. They
preferred mechanical pencils, which produced fine lines, much clearer than the
smudgy lines left by the grease pencils that Russians favoured. But the lead tips of
these mechanical pencils broke often. That bit of graphite floating around the space
capsule could get into someone's eye, or even find its way into machinery or
electronics, causing an electrical short or other problems. But despite the fact that the
Americans did invent zero gravity pencils later, they stuck to mechanical pencils for
many years,

Against the backcloth of a digitalized world, the prospect of pencils seems

bleak. In reality, it does not. The application of pencils has by now become so
widespread that they can be seen everywhere, such as classrooms, meeting rooms
and art rooms, etc. A spectrum of users are likely to continue to use it into the future:
students to do math works, artists to draw on sketch pads, waiters or waitresses to
mark on order boards, make-up professionals to apply to faces and architects to
produce blue prints. The possibilities seem limitless.

Motivating Drives
Scientists have been researching the way to get employees motivated for
many years. This research is a relational study which builds the fundamental and
comprehensive model for study. This is especially true when the business goal is to
turn unmotivated teams into productive ones. But their researches have limitations. It
is like studying the movements of car without taking out the engine.
Motivation is what drives people to succeed and plays a vital role in enhancing an
organi-sational development. It is important to study the motivation of employees
because it is related to the emotion and behaviour of employees. Recent studies show
there are four drives for motivation. They are the drive to acquire, the drive to bond,
the drive to comprehend and the drive to defend.

The Drive to Acquire

The drive to acquire must be met to optimise the acquire aspect as well as the
achievement element. Thus the way that outstanding performance is recognised, the
type of perks that is provided to polish the career path. But sometimes a written letter
of appreciation generates more motivation than a thousand dollar check, which can
serve as the invisible power to boost business engagement. Successful organisations
and leaders not only need to focus on, the optimisation of physical reward but also on
moving other levers within the organisation that can drive motivation.

The Drive to Bond

The drive to bond is also key to driving motivation. There are many kinds of
bonds between People, like friendship, family. In company, employees also want to be
an essential part of company. They want to belong to the company. Employees will be
motivated if they find Personal belonging to the company. In the meantime, the most
commitment will be achieved by the employee on condition that the force of
motivation within the employee affects the direction, intensity and persistence of
decision and behaviour in company.

The Drive to Comprehend

The drive to comprehend motivates many employees to higher performance.
For years, it has been known that setting stretch goals can greatly impact
performance. Organisations need to ensure that the various job roles provide
employees with simulation that challenges them or allow them to grow. Employees
don't want to do meaningless thing or monotonous job. If the job didn't provide them
with personal meaning and fulfillment, they will leave the company.

The Drive to Defend

The drive to defend is often the hardest lever to pull. This drive manifests
itself as a quest to create and promote justice, fairness, and the ability to express
ourselves freely. The organisational lever for this basic human motivator is resource
allocation. This drive is also met through an employee feeling connection to a
company. If their companies are merged with another, they will show worries.
Two studies have been done to find the relations between the four drives and
motivation. The article based on two studies was finally published in Harvard Business
Review. Most authors' arguments have laid emphasis on four-drive theory and actual
investigations. Using the results of the surveys which executed with employees from
Fortune 500 companies and other two global businesses (P company and H company),
the article mentions about how independent drives influence employees' behaviour
and how organisational levers boost employee motivation.
The studies show that the drive to bond is most related to fulfilling commitment, while
the drive to comprehend is most related to how much effort employees spend on
works. The drive to acquire can be satisfied by a rewarding system which ties rewards
to performance, and gives the best people opportunities for advancement. For drive
to defend, a study on the merging of P company and H company shows that
employees in former company show an unusual cooperating attitude.
The key to successfully motivate employees is to meet all drives. Each of these drives
is important if we are to understand employee motivation. These four drives, while not
necessarily the only human drives, are the ones that are central to the unified
understanding of modem human life.